CORVALLIS – Oregon State senior Nathan Braaten has earned national recognition as he was selected as a candidate for the men’s soccer Senior CLASS Award.
To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
Braaten is one of 30 men’s soccer players to be tabbed as candidates, and joins Stanford’s Adam Mosharrafa as the only Pac-12 players to make the list.
Braaten is one of the co-founders of the DAM Worth It campaign, which was designed to raise awareness for mental health. The program has received national recognition, including winning a Giant Steps Award from the Institute for Sport and Social Justice. For his efforts, Braaten was also presented with a Waldo-Cummings Award, one of the most prestigious honors handed out by the Oregon State Faculty Senate Student Recognition and Awards Committee.
Braaten and his co-founder have earned a grant from the Pac-12 to expand Dam Worth It to all Pac-12 universities.
The senior has proven to be a dynamo in the classroom, earning Academic All-America Second Team honors last season as a finance major. The senior is a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-District selection and a two-time Pac-12 All-Academic First Team honoree.
Braaten has played in 53 games with the Beavers, including nine starts, and has scored a pair of goals and notched two assists. One of Braaten’s career highlights is a goal in a 2-0 win over No. 17 Pacific in the 2017 season.
